Mildred: You confess that "The genres of poems that I believe to be my strongest would be horror, gory, dark and twisted." What is it about these genres that gets your creative juices flowing?
Danny: Those dark, horror-leaning genres get my creative juices flowing because they give me permission to go all the way. There’s no pressure to be polite, pretty, or comforting. I get to explore extremes of fear, obsession, decay, cruelty, and madness. The stuff people feel but don’t always say out loud.
Mildred: You have been writing poetry for 25 years!!! And you have written almost 7000 poems!!! What helps you or inspires you to keep writing poems? I know this is a bit of an unfair question but which three of your poems would you highly recommend?
Danny: What keeps me writing poems: I notice small moments and feelings. I return to the same themes (love, loss, time). A good line still surprises me. After writing nearly 7000 poems I think it would be akin to choosing which of my children is my favourite.
The Bottle Took You First https://allpoetry.com/poem/18485117-The-Bottle-Took-You-First-by-Danny-ONeill
You didn't die the day you fell- / that came much later, quiet, slow. / But still I watche. Published at the web's largest poetry site.
The Thing That Grows https://allpoetry.com/poem/18485691-The-Thing-That-Grows-by-Danny-ONeill
It comes with silence, / a whisper in the tissue, / a dark seed planted / in the soft, war. Published at the web's largest poetry site.
The Thread Between https://allpoetry.com/poem/18494667-The-Thread-Between-by-Danny-ONeill
I passed through silence, soft and wide, / Where stars like seeds in slumber hide. / No br. Published at the web's largest poetry site.
Mildred: How long did it take you to write "Dressed for the Funeral of Certainty"?
Danny: About 45–60 minutes to draft, much longer in thinking time. Poems like this are written fast, then understood slowly.
Mildred: The title is a phrase in the poem, from the line "Because I have come dressed for the funeral of certainty". Why did you choose to write in first person? Did you have any challenges because of this choice or did you find it freeing?
Danny: The poem is an interruption. First person lets the speaker enter the room, claim space, and disrupt history from inside it—not comment safely from the outside.
Mildred: If you could pick an alternative title for your poem, what would it be?
Danny: Yes—earlier working titles were: “Uninvited” “Minutes from a Meeting I Wasn’t Supposed to Attend” “After the Conference” The final version doesn’t announce itself. It arrives—like the speaker does.
Mildred: If you were a judge for the contest, which of the entries would you pick for gold, silver and bronze?
Danny: I wouldn't even give mine a honourable mention to be honest with you.
Mildred: Advice for new poets?
Danny: Write badly on purpose. Good poems come from many bad ones.
Pay attention. Most poems fail because the poet didn’t look long enough.
Finish poems. Even weak endings teach you something.
Read poets who unsettle you. Comfort rarely sharpens craft.
Trust your obsessions. If a subject keeps returning, it’s doing important work.
Cut what explains too much. Let the reader participate.
Keep going. The only real advantage poets have is persistence.
Mildred: You confess that "The genres of poems that I believe to be my strongest would be horror, gory, dark and twisted." What is it about these genres that gets your creative juices flowing?
Danny: Those dark, horror-leaning genres get my creative juices flowing because they give me permission to go all the way. There’s no pressure to be polite, pretty, or comforting. I get to explore extremes of fear, obsession, decay, cruelty, and madness. The stuff people feel but don’t always say out loud.
Mildred: You have been writing poetry for 25 years!!! And you have written almost 7000 poems!!! What helps you or inspires you to keep writing poems? I know this is a bit of an unfair question but which three of your poems would you highly recommend?
Danny: What keeps me writing poems: I notice small moments and feelings. I return to the same themes (love, loss, time). A good line still surprises me. After writing nearly 7000 poems I think it would be akin to choosing which of my children is my favourite.
The Bottle Took You First https://allpoetry.com/poem/18485117-The-Bottle-Took-You-First-by-Danny-ONeill
You didn't die the day you fell- / that came much later, quiet, slow. / But still I watche. Published at the web's largest poetry site.
The Thing That Grows https://allpoetry.com/poem/18485691-The-Thing-That-Grows-by-Danny-ONeill
It comes with silence, / a whisper in the tissue, / a dark seed planted / in the soft, war. Published at the web's largest poetry site.
The Thread Between https://allpoetry.com/poem/18494667-The-Thread-Between-by-Danny-ONeill
I passed through silence, soft and wide, / Where stars like seeds in slumber hide. / No br. Published at the web's largest poetry site.
Mildred: How long did it take you to write "Dressed for the Funeral of Certainty"?
Danny: About 45–60 minutes to draft, much longer in thinking time. Poems like this are written fast, then understood slowly.
Mildred: The title is a phrase in the poem, from the line "Because I have come dressed for the funeral of certainty". Why did you choose to write in first person? Did you have any challenges because of this choice or did you find it freeing?
Danny: The poem is an interruption. First person lets the speaker enter the room, claim space, and disrupt history from inside it—not comment safely from the outside.
Mildred: If you could pick an alternative title for your poem, what would it be?
Danny: Yes—earlier working titles were: “Uninvited” “Minutes from a Meeting I Wasn’t Supposed to Attend” “After the Conference” The final version doesn’t announce itself. It arrives—like the speaker does.
Mildred: If you were a judge for the contest, which of the entries would you pick for gold, silver and bronze?
Danny: I wouldn't even give mine a honourable mention to be honest with you.
Mildred: Advice for new poets?
Danny: Write badly on purpose. Good poems come from many bad ones.
Pay attention. Most poems fail because the poet didn’t look long enough.
Finish poems. Even weak endings teach you something.
Read poets who unsettle you. Comfort rarely sharpens craft.
Trust your obsessions. If a subject keeps returning, it’s doing important work.
Cut what explains too much. Let the reader participate.
Keep going. The only real advantage poets have is persistence.
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Mildred Achoch
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